Metamorphs And Bookworms
by dragonfirechampion
Summary: A rewrite where Harry grows up a Metamorphmagus and goes to hogwarts with his two best friends HP/Hr/NT
1. You're A Wizard

(31st October 1981)

Harry sat there, in his cot, wondering what was happening. "Haaaaaarrrrrrrry, time for bed sweet heart" Lily cooed. She pulled the blanket over him and tucked him in. was this a dream, a memory lost to him for over 80 year.

He tried to talk but only a quiet "mumumum ga" came out of his young undeveloped mouth.

"yes I'm your mummy, but it's sleep time now darling" Lilly cooed again, turning around and turning the light in the bedroom off.

This wasn't a dream then, or if it was, it was a very lucid dream. One way to check, look at his magical core using Occlumency, if Harry really was dreaming, he probably wouldn't be able to do so, or if he could he would just see his normal core.

What Harry saw shocked him, sure he saw his adult magical core he saw a representation of his soul, but he saw another core, another soul. But this body was already showing signs of dying. Baby Harry's small body couldn't handle his adult core, never mind its own developing core as well and that was just the cores, his soul was doing just as much damage.

Suddenly Harry could hear someone downstairs yelling, and someone else thundering up said stairs "Lily, it's him, take Harry and run, I'll hold him off". His mum had him in her arms less than a minute later even though the sound of spell fire began to rage downstairs.

"Avada Kedavra" came an almost hissing voice downstairs. Lily's despair was far to real as she turned and ran towards the doorway only to see Voldemort fly to the top of the stairway, blocking the way to the only room with a Floo in the house.

Lily, slammed the door, casting locking and reinforcement charms on it and running back to the crib. Putting Harry back down in the crib, "Damn these anti-apparition wards!" Lily sobbed.

All Harry could do was cry even though he knew what was happening, this was his mum about to die. "There there, mummy's here" Lily cooed, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Live for me ok" this time she placed he finger over Harry's mouth, seemingly calming the baby enough, to make him stop crying.

Harry suddenly knew what to do, he began dispersing his adult core, pushing the magic into the baby's very flesh, his skin. Lily watched as the baby began to glow, something about the magic emanating from her baby seemed to give her the last of the resolve she needed.

The door behind her blasted open and Lily turned to face her fate. "step aside" the hissing voice of Voldemort commanded.

"Never" Lily yelled

"Filthy mud-blood, Avada Kedavra"

The room around Harry's cot flashed green and there was a thud as his mothers body hit the floor.

There was only one thing left to do, the baby's body would never be able to handle Harry's older soul. He knew the baby would never know about the life his older counterpart had led, memories were part of what made up the soul after all.

Harry watched as Voldemort peered over the cot, smiling his weird post-euphoric smile "If only they had listened to me, they could have served me, but they died for you" he sighed.

"Avada Kedavra" Voldemort hissed once again, the green curse flying from his wand once more.

All Voldemort could do was watch as his curst hit something that seemed to eject itself from the boy's body, reflecting the curse back at him.

-oo00OoO00oo-

(24th July 1991)

Harry's sides hurt from the bruises and the hard bed he had been sleeping on only ten minutes ago. He bent down to pick up the small pile of letters destined for his uncle's fat hands a minute later.

As he walked down the small hallway he had the most incredible urge to shuffle through the letters as he walked towards the kitchen. Suddenly his eyes caught something that made him stop, eyes almost bulging out of his head.

MR. H. POTTER

The Cupboard Under The Stairs

4, Privet Drive,

Little Whinging,

Surrey

He quickly slid the letter through the crack under the door to his cupboard and hurried into the kitchen hoping his uncle wouldn't notice his delay. Handing over the letters he walked into the kitchen and pulled the frying pan out of the cupboard.

"HURRY UP BOY!" Vernon yelled "BREAKFAST WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE TABLE 5 MINUTES AGO" Harry knew he would probably get a beating later that night, and it was summer so he wouldn't hold back for the purpose of hiding Harry's mistreatment from the school system.

Harry waited till Vernon, his Aunt Petunia and Dudley finished eating and they walked his uncle out the door before he collected up the plates. He turned the sink on, and scrubbed the dishes.

-oo00OoO00oo-

After serving dinner, Harry quickly retreated to his cupboard, making sure to pick up his letter on the way in, hoping Vernon had forgotten about being late this morning with breakfast.

Carefully Harry opened the letter, being extra careful to make as little noise as possible. He pulled out the piece of folded parchment. At the top it had a crest detailing something called Hogwarts

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump International Confederate of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed is a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

If any assistance is required place your hand on the letter and speak "Auxilium Requiratur" and a Hogwarts professor will be sent out within a few days

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

By the time Harry finished reading he was stunned, was this why he could change the way he did.

Was this the reason he had been called a "freak", was this why he was treated the way he was.

Harry couldn't help feeling the emotion's rising within himself. As he began to sob he placed his hand on the letter and whisper between his sobs "Auxilium Requiratu" before putting the letter to the side and grabbing the rags he used a blanket and curled up on his tattered mattress.

Harry could remember the first time he changed, when he and Dudley were four years old. His hair changed from its black to a red, Dudley had burst into a fit of giggles. Moments later his Aunt Petunia walked into the room. She had yelled at him and called him a freak, practically kicking him away from her "Duddykins" she'd grabbed Harry and locked him in his cupboard for two days without food.

Harry quickly learnt to control his ability after that night, never using it around anybody else, always curios if there was anybody else like him. Bringing his thoughts back to the present he hoped that this "Hogwarts" was real, he hoped there were others like him. Harry cleared his thoughts and tried to sleep. His dreams that night filled him with hope for a better tomorrow.

-oo00OoO00oo-

(25th July 1991)

Harry looked up at the strange tabby cat that began to mewl at him, while he was gardening. It looked well groomed and friendly, so he decided to reach out hand and path the cat's back. After a few seconds the cat began to purr before walking towards the front door of number 4 privet drive.

Harry watched as the cat looked around quickly as if paranoid. Obviously spotting nothing the cat seemed to suddenly grow, becoming bipedal and losing it's tail while changing into an older woman wearing robes and a pointy hat.

"Are you Harry potter" the woman said.

Harry, who's jaw had been hanging limp suddenly realized he had been gawking, closed his mouth "Uh yes ma'am" he replied weakly.

"I'm Professor McGonagall, pleasure to meet you Harry" she sighed, Harry had no idea about magic.

Harry rose, taking off the gardening gloves "I-is this a-about that letter yesterday? Ill go get my aunt" Harry quickly rushed inside to get his aunt, leaving a bewildered McGonagall behind.

Why did Harry seem so nervous, or was it something else. She had known the Dursleys had been bad all those years ago, had Albus been wrong. No, perhaps Harry just read his letter and summoned her without telling his aunt and uncle. Then again, he did look thin for a boy his age.

Petunia Dursley had been laying on the sofa, getting into her latest novel when Harry came sprinting through the house "STOP RUNNING AROUND OR YOU WON"T EAT FOR A WEEK" she shouted as the boy came to a halt in front of her "And get back outside and finish the gardening" she growled in a threatening tone.

"but Aunt Petunia-" Harry began.

"NO BUTTS" Petunia cut off.

"there's a lady at the front door" Harry finished.

"well why didn't you say so" Petunia said slapping the boy in front of her across the head, standing up and straitening her dress.

Petunia walked across to the front door at the other end of the house. She swung the door open with a bright smile on her face, which proceeded to turn pale as her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Would you like to come in" Petunia rasped, leading the way to the kitchen.

Harry closed the door behind McGonagall who sat opposite Petunia at the kitchen table.

"Good morning, I'm professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress-" before McGonagall could continue she was abruptly cut off by Petunia.

"I know where your from, when the boy was left on our doorstep we sent a letter saying that he wouldn't be going" Petunia said, in a fit of rage.

Harry couldn't believe his eyes when the woman pulled out a stick under the table and a bolt of light shot out from it. What was just as strange was his aunt seemingly calming down almost straight after the bolt had hit his aunt.

"I'm sorry, we weren't aware of that. Such a shame to see Lilly's money wasted though, the school fee is non-refundable you see" McGonagall smirked at seeing Petunia's eyes light up in glee.

"His schooling is already paid for?" Petunia asked not sure if what she was hearing was true.

"Since the day he was born, James made sure of it."

"And everything will be supplied by the school?" Petunia asked again, trying to find the hidden costs.

"No, but the money in Harry's trust fund will more than cover the cost of his school supplies" McGonagall could barely contain her laughter at Petunia, her jaw was working itself yet no words were coming out.

Petunia was thinking about the hundreds of pounds she would save and it could all go towards a family holiday with herself Vernon and Dudley. She also had the benefit of Hogwarts being a boarding school "In that case I see no reason he cant go then" she stated hurriedly "though I have no idea where he needs to get supplies, or where to drop him off."

The other woman just sighed "I can get Hagrid to pick him up on the morning of the first of August and again on the first of September."

Petunia quickly agreed, but before she had time to usher McGonagall out the door "Will there be other people like me there?" Harry asked barely loud enough for McGonagall to hear.

McGonagall quickly turned to Harry "Yes, there will be many other young witches and wizards like yourself attending Hogwarts, we are after all a school for witches and wizards."

"That's not what I mean professor" Harry changed his hair color, flicking from its black, to a deep blue, a bright red before finishing off with his default black, then he grew half a foot before shrinking down again.

Petunia glared at his showing off his abilities and It was McGonagall's time to gawk at the boy. "How much do you know about our world Harry."

"Nothing" Petunia murmured.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Having spent almost the whole day talking to McGonagall, Harry was sad to see her have to go, she had told him not only about his abilities as a metamorphmagus, but also a little about wizarding culture in general and lent him a copy of Hogwarts: A History. However she had refrained from mentioning Harry's parents, something he had desperately hoped she would tell him about, how could his parents, after all being magical, die in a car crash. By the time Harry had finished making dinner and doing chores, he found himself a bundle of nerves and excitement for what was coming in a weeks time.


	2. Diagon Alley

(1st august 1991)

Loud knocking could be heard from the front door throughout the house. Harry sat there in his cupboard, on his bed. He had been waiting for this for a whole week. His birthday had felt like nothing yesterday, like usual, but today he would be getting his school supplies.

Harry had read through the copy of Hogwarts: A History professor McGonagall had left with him twice trying to learn everything he could about the school of magic he would be attending the next seven years of his life.

"BOY" came Uncle Vernon's shout.

Harry practically flew out of his cupboard down the hall all the way to the front door. There he saw two thick men, one being his uncle and the other he had never seen before. This new man was also almost twice his uncles height though, so while he was almost he was just as big around the waist as his uncle he was by no means overweight.

"Happy birthday fer yesterday 'arry, I woulda come yesterday but McGonagall said yeh should spend it with yer family. I couldn' disagree with 'er" came the strange man's booming voice.

"It would have been fine, just take the boy", Vernon growled, shoving Harry out the door and slamming it.

"S-sorry, b-but who are you?" harry asked, visibly shrinking half of an inch in fright at the stranger before him, wishing him a happy birthday.

"Sorry. 'ow rude o' me, Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." Hagrid replied, much quieter this time.

-oo00OoO00oo-

"Ah, Hagrid! The usual, I presume?" came a voice from the bar as The new duo walked into the pub.

"Not today Tom", Hagrid laughed, "but a private room for lunch would go well. Helpin' young Harry 'ere buy school supplies."

"Bless my soul, it's Harry Potter." Tom gawked making the room fall silent with all eyes turning to Harry.

A man with a hunchback and long silver hair wearing what could only be described as a squashed top hat began to stumble towards harry, who stepped back running into Hagrid, who could feel him shrink, another inch.

Hagrid motioned Tom to get the keys for the private rooms as Hagrid wrapped his arm around the distressed Harry and pushed him through the forming crowd to the private rooms where Tom unlocked a door and ushered the pair inside.

"Three steaks an' chips would be good if you could as well Tom" Hagrid said, closing and locking the door so the paparazzi wouldn't follow.

"Sorry Harry, I forgot how famous yer are" Hagrid turned, spying the boy huddled on the floor in the corner of the room. He felt his heart twinge for the boy whose parent had become such good friends of his before they died.

He moved toward Harry, bending down to stand the boy up, embracing him in a gently hug, letting Harry sob into his belly "I's ok, they can' get yeh, I'll protect yeh kid." That seemed to calm him down.

Once Harry had fully calmed down and had wiped the tears from his eyes, Hagrid sat him down on the other side of the table from where he decided to sit a few moments later.

"So McGonagall tells me you're a metamorphmagus Harry? That's a rare ability you have." This brought a smile to the eleven year old's face.

Harry's reply was to change his hair color to an emerald green that matched his eyes, "Yeah Professor McGonagall told me when we met, she said that usually there was only born every century or two, it sucks i'll be the only one" his voice quietened as he went on, leaving the rest of his thoughts to himself. Still a freak.

"Well, yer'll probably do well in transfiguration, tha's the class McGonagall teaches."

"Oh ok, yeah maybe, do you teach a class Hagrid?"

"Nah, though I wouldn't mind teachin' care of magical creatures, I take care o' a fair few of 'em anyway."

"Really? What about dragons, do you take care of dragons!" Hagrid could see the sudden glint in his eye as the boy got excited. All Hagrid could do was let out his thunderous laughter.

The two continued talking about dragons and classes at Hogwarts, eventually Tom brought the three plates of food Hagrid ordered before and they ate.

"Maybe while we're shopping ye' should change so people don't recognize you Harry." Hagrid suggested before they left the private back room.

"Ok" Harry muttered. Usually he was told not to use his ability, so it felt weird changing anything that wasn't his hair color. He focused on growing half a foot, moving his ever-present scar to his ankle and changing his hair color to a bright red, and making his skin a few shades more pale. Harry could never get rid of his scar, he could change everything else, he could move it but it was always there, another mystery about himself.

Once Harry was done he looked up at his giant companion, to see him wipe a tear from his eye. "Yeh look so much like yer mother like that."

-oo00OoO00oo-

Harry watched the bricks slide out of the way out the back of the Leaky Cauldron to reveal Diagon Alley. The alley was bursting with strange people and wonders he had only ever dreamed about. There were children of all ages looking through some windows with parents and strangers alike either watching said children or walking further down the alley. As Harry and Hagrid walked down the alley he looked into one of the windows that had children crowded around it, they all seemed to be looking at a broom that had no business sweeping the floor "WOW, that's the new nimbus 2000!" one of the children practically squealed, her pink hair helping to stand out in the crowd, quite a feat when everyone seemed to stand out to harry.

"Hagrid, Professor McGonagall said I had a trust fund, where am I supposed to go to get some money for my school supplies?" the young wizard wondered as they kept walking past another building.

Hagrid raised his arm, pointing to a large pearly white building further down the alley, "Gringotts Wizardin' bank, ain' no safer place, exept Hogwarts o' course". It wasn't two minutes later they were walking through two sets of doors into the building Hagrid had pointed out, the second set had in large writing engraved in the doors:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

The warning could not be more clear as they pushed through the second set of doors into the main chamber. Whatever Harry had expected, the 'people' at the booths were not it, they had long pointed ears, greyish green skin, long noses and looked as if the only way their bodies were even almost proportionate was if they were standing on a raised platform behind the booths they worked at.

Hagrid simply walked up to one of the booths with Harry still tagging behind. "Mr. Harry Potter would like to make a withdrawal."

The strange creature leant forward peering down at him. "Yes, and does Mr. Harry Potter have his key."

Hagrid suddenly began to pat against his coat pockets "O', yeah got it 'ere somewhere" he suddenly dug his massive hand inside his coat, fishing out a small bronze key. The booth attendant called someone called Griphook over (this creature was about the same size as Harry, proving his observation right) who told them to follow him down a corridor and into a cart attached to a set of tracks that Harry thought looked precariously dangerous.

Griphook was quick to pull a leaver and the cart lurched forward suddenly, heading downwards and picking up speed. The cart sped around corner after corner all the while still heading down, Harry was sure he would be sick if the cart ride continued much longer. Almost as soon as Harry had thought that the track leveled out and slowed to a stop and Griphook announced "Vault 687, Harry Potter trust vault" then stepped of the car and pointed out the keyhole.

Hagrid was quick to open the vault door and stand back to let Harry in. Harry was almost blinded as he stepped in and candles on a simple chandelier seemed to flicker to life, reflecting light of mountains of gold silver and bronze. The room was almost one hundred times the size of his cupboard and mostly filled with the gold coins he could now make out, the silver and bronze piles of coins being tiny in comparison.

After Harry had been standing there for what felt like an hour (even though only a minute had actually passed) Hagrid spoke up "Well Harry, are you goin' to grab some money or not?"

Harry quickly grabbed a handful of golden coins and shoved it into his small pocket and turned to leave.

"Oh I'm sorry Harry, forgot ye'd need a wallet, Griphook, young master Potter would like ter purchase a wallet, could yer please also show 'im how it works" Hagrid asked the creature who stepped toward Harry, pulling something from his coat jacket.

"Goblin's honor the wallet is easy to use, there are three coin zips, one for your galleons, one for your sickles and one for your knuts. The wallet costs ten galleons but i'll throw in a debt card for one extra galleon. Using the debt card at a muggle shop automatically converts the minimum required currency to whatever muggle money is required for purchases made with the card free of charge. Both the wallet and card are enchanted with anti-theft enchantments so can only be used by yourself" the goblin explained showing each compartment and the card slot in the wallet.

Harry quickly fished out eleven of the gold coins he guessed were galleons from his pocket, the goblin handed over the wallet and fished a card out of another pocket, tapping it against the vault door and handing it to Harry who was quickly delighted to discover he could fit as many coins in each pocket of the wallet as he liked without it ever seeming to be full. He filled the galleon pocket with what he figured was somewhere close to 500 galleons, not realizing how much money he would be carrying with him.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Harry was glad to be leaving the bank, after visiting Harry's vault they had gone to another where Hagrid had retrieved a small package claiming it was, 'Hogwarts business, very secret'.

Harry looked through his supply list "Should we go and get my uniform first Hagrid?"

"Sure, off ter Madam Malkin's we go then" agreed a Hagrid seemingly lost in thought. The duo were there fairly quickly, "Right, ill wait out 'ere, yeh go in and Madam Malkin will sort yeh out" Hagrid said, almost in a daze of excitement.

Harry could tell that there was something wrong here "Please stay here, Don't leave me" his plea seemed to break Hagrid out of his daze. Harry's green eyes staring frightened melted his heart, he quickly reaffirmed he would stand guard at the door till Harry was done. Happy with that response Harry entered the shop, seeing a blonde boy sitting on a stool waiting. He quickly took a seat on next to the boy.

"Is it your first year at Hogwarts to?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, I cant wait, I hope it's fun." Harry replied.

"Yeah me too, I hear Harry Potter is going to be coming this year, I hope I can make friends with him, I mean he defeated the dark lord when he was only a year old. He must be really powerful."

Harry's interest was piqued, this boy knew more about him than he did, maybe he could get some information about his parents. But before he could ask anything a curtain was drawn back and a little old lady came out from what he guessed was a changing room followed by a girl he suspected to be a few years older than him carrying a bundle of black robes.

"They should fit well for the next year, did you just want the one set or two?"

"Two please, Madam Malkin,"

Madam Malkin proceeded to go behind the counter and cash the order for the young witch, giving her a paper bag Harry figured contained a second set of robes for her to put the ones she was already carrying in too.

With a commanding voice Madam Malkin then asked "Both for Hogwarts as well, which one of you got here first."

The blond boy stood up, walking into the changing room at Madam Malkin's instruction. Five minutes later the boy walked out of the dressing room like the girl before him also ordering 2 sets of robes and taking the paper bag before walking out however he stopped "See you at school, hope to see you in Slytherin like me" then stepped out.

Madam Malkin directed him into the changing room, and instructed him to take of his shirt, flicking her hand which a wand appeared and she in turn flicked toward a measuring tape that suddenly began taking measurements on its own. Harry began to feel shy as Madam Malkin was looking at him and rummaging through a pile of robes, shrinking an inch or so.

The measuring tape suddenly tapped its metal bit against the ground drawing Madam Malkin's attention, then pointing at the notepad it had been working with, recording his measurements, showing the two different height measurements. "Another one of you!" Harry had no idea what she was talking about.

"Sorry?"

"So you should be, another metamorphmagus playing tricks on my poor measuring tape, you'll need enchanted robes to accommodate all your morphing…." the old witch sounded incensed.

"P-please Mrs. Malkin I didn't mean to- I wasn't meant to pull any p-pranks" she seemed to calm down a bit.

"Of course not, sorry its just the witch this morning had me checking her measurements over and over for half an hour before I realized what was going on, please revert to your usual form?" she asked much more calm then merely thirty seconds. Harry complied, shrinking to his normal height, his scar returning to his forehead his hair regaining its normal black and his skin going a few shades darker, to its normal slight tan.

"Oh my, are you... Harry Potter?" Harry's nod seemed to appease the witch "Well nice to meet you Harry." She flicked her wand towards a roll of black cloth the same as the robes she had previously been rummaging through a second beforehand. Multiple pieces of large cloth split from the roll, which madam Malkin waved her wand over, they formed the basic shape of robes, which then seamlessly stitched together into a full pair of robes that Harry could tell was almost triple his size, they could probably fit Hagrid and still be a bit baggy. He watched as Madam Malkin waved her wand over the robes in a complicated fashion, making the robes shrink to something that more resembled his size.

"Here put these on" Harry did as he was bid, the robes were extremely comfortable, not hampering his movement at all.

"Well do your thing, try putting on some muscle, grow taller, Test them."

Harry hesitated, not used to being asked to use his power. Quickly he decided to make himself look ridiculous, he shrunk, the robes shrinking with him and he put on as much muscle as he could until his arms were as thick as his chest and longer than his legs, looking very much like a miniature gorilla. Madam Malkin began to laugh so hard she could barely breath. The fact that Madam Malkins' robes had superbly morphed as he did perfectly had surprised him, and he liked it "Wow these are great."

"I'm glad" she finally breathed after Harry had reverted to the form he had walked in the door in "I'll happily make any clothing you ever need Mr. Potter, I haven't had a good laugh like that in a while."

Madam Malkin quickly repeated her previous efforts while Harry changed back into his other clothes. "These will be a little bit more expensive than most school robes, but you shouldn't have to buy robes for a while unless these ones wear out" she hustled Harry towards the front counter.

Harry paid the 22 galleons, 6 sickles, and 8 knuts, took his paper bag and exited the store. Hagrid was still standing there guarding the door like Harry had asked him, however he looked slightly frustrated. "What's wrong Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Oh nothin', jus' Lucius Malfoy came 'round ter pick up 'is son Draco, bunch o' bigots the lot of 'em"

Harry tried to inquire further but Hagrid refused to give any further information.

"Wouldn' do ter turn ye' agains' yer classmates before ye' even at school with 'em" Hagrid looked at the bag in Harry's hand "Guess we better get yer trunk now so 's easier ter carry around yer shoppin'"

Harry took the dismissal and followed Hagrid to another shop with a large sign above labelled 'TREVOR'S TRAVEL AND TRUNKS'

Hagrid quickly assured Harry he would wait outside again and took Harry's bag with the robes and Harry entered the store.

There was a whole wall of trunks of different designs and sizes, tent's and furniture (both what looked like muggle camping furniture and actual household furniture). What looked out of place in this store was a small section of lockets which he stepped up to, the display read 'House Lockets'. He stretched his hand out to pick up one with a dragon design on it, but to his shock Harry couldn't so much as move it closer to his face to look at it closer.

A loud cough off to Harry's right caught his attention "Don't touch what you can't afford boy."

Harry turned to face the man, "Sorry I was just trying to look, but I cant even move them."

"Ah yes, house lockets, they have very good security wards on them, they need to for things so expensive" the man middle aged man replied.

"What do they do?"

The man's grin made Harry feel stupid as the man began to explain "Do, well they do nothing. But a house locket is a locket that comes with some extremely complicated set of charms and wards which give you the ability to expand it to the size of a doorway. When it's that big when you open the locket it will actually be a door into the interior of the locket which is a house, it even has a small outdoors are that is charmed to keep time with wherever you are in the world. Upon entering the house the locket will shrink down to its smaller size until you want to use the door again".

The explanation blew his mind "How much are they?"

"Names Trevor kid. You going to Hogwarts, this year kid, because at your age you really don't need one, even if you do have the money" Trevor warned.

"N-nice to meet you Trevor, I'm Harry. I really want one, I could put more in it than a trunk, plus I could use more space at home and this would be perfect" Harry's nerves began to kick in at the thought of his cupboard and how he had no space.

"They go for five and a half thousand galleons, fully furnished, if you can afford that I'll tell you what, I'll throw in a moke-skin pouch you can use as a school bag" Trevor challenged, not seeming to notice anything about his name.

Harry had to put some thought into it before he made his final decision, what would the house even be like after all. And what was a moke-skin pouch. "What's a moke-skin pouch".

"You a muggle-born or something kid, everyone knows what a moke-skin pouch is. Then again they can be rare among less fortunate families" Trevor pointed at the pouches right next to the house lockets. "They have undetectable extension charm on 'em, can fit almost two trunks worth of stuff if they don't have extension charms as well as anti theft charm, feather weight charms and if you put something in, only you can take it out."

"Can I look inside before I decide" Harry breathed, practically already decided that he was definitely getting one, knowing that he far more money in his trust vault than what Trevor's asking price was.

Trevor flicked a wand that had suddenly appeared at the locket Harry had been trying to look at before which shot off the hook. He then tapped his wand to the locket which floated out of his grip, growing to the size of a door. He opened the locket with the door handle that had been too small to notice when it had been small and stepped inside "Well you coming or what?"

Getting over his shock he quickly followed into a small hallway with a large sized room with an open wall to the hallway he was in on his left that was decorated with a couch that curled around the walls leaving space in the middle of the room free. It was then he noticed the light switch and a stained glass lightshade in the center of the room. "I thought Professor McGonagall said electronics didn't work in the magical world."

Looking at Harry and seeing that he was looking at the light switch Trevor coaxed "They don't, the lights work because they have a rune scheme that casts a lumos in the lightshade, guess you are muggle-born hey."

"Nah, my parents died when I was a baby and I grew up with my muggle aunt and uncle." Harry hinted.

Trevor didn't pick up on who he was yet again and chose to explain how all the enchantments in the house worked, most utilities working with runes. Water in the bathroom for example worked with runes that cast Aguamenti tied to power runes that adjusted the further you turned the handle and heating/cooling charms.

After the explanation Trevor showed harry the kitchen which had Harry almost drooling, he loved to cook, and he was good at it. Harry's cooking was one of the few things the Dursleys gave harry whatever he wanted, and gave him no argument over, for the last two years anyway.

The rest of the house wasn't much, there was a toilet and three bedrooms, one was larger with a very large bed that seemed a little ridiculous and two slightly smaller ones with double beds as well as one bathroom and a study. Trevor then wen on to explain how to add people so they were able to get through the security wards, which happened to be having them sign their name with a blood quill attached to a specific book in the study someone could be removed by tapping their name with a wand and saying 'Auferte'.

"What does it look like when it's got someone inside when its shrunk?" Harry asked as they were leaving.

"Go out and close the door and you'll see" Trevor said. So Harry closed the door behind him after he stepped out to see it shrink to the small necklace sitting on the floor. As Harry was leaning over it, the necklace suddenly moved the where he wasn't before it expanded to the size of a door and Trevor stepped out.

"Yeah I almost forgot, it has safety charms on it so if someone is wearing it when another person is trying to exit the pendant part will detach and move to a safe spot for it to become a door" Trevor explained

"Do you take Gringotts bank card" Harry beamed.

Trevor could only laugh "Sure, but due to the price I'll get you to fill out a form as a proof of purchase as well." He began pulling out a form which he filled out, "was that all, the house locket and the free moke-skin pouch?"

"Put in a second moke-skin pouch please, one red and one blue."

"No probs" he flicked over the completed form and handed Harry a blood quill, which he explained was only used for things like the security book in Harry's new house locket security book and magically binding contracts. Harry swiped his card through the Gringotts card reader, which accepted the payment, and signed the proof of purchase receipt in blood. Trevor quickly went into the locket and brought out the security book which Harry signed his name, removing Trevor's.

Harry felt giddy as he left the store, wearing his locket under his shirt (thinking Hagrid would be mad at him if he knew how much money he had spent) and his moke-skin pouches; the blue one over his shirt and the red at his hip tied to the jeans he was wearing.

"Yer done Harry?" Hagrid yawned "ye' were in there longer than I expected."

"Yeah Trevor showed me a few of the enchantments that went into my trunk, he also had to explain what these were" Harry help up the moke-skin pouch around his neck, which he opened, taking the bag of robes from Hagrid and dropping it in, drawing the strings closed once more.

"Well anyway, les' go an' get yer potions an' astronomy stuff and we can take a break at Fortescue's fer some ice-cream"

-oo00OoO00oo-

Half an hour later Harry was busy enjoying an ice-cream sundae that consisted of four different flavors butter-beer (which Hagrid assured wasn't alcoholic), fizzing wizzbee, treacle tart (which Harry quickly realized he liked very much), and the ever popular and standard chocolate.

There was a fair few people sitting around the tables of the ice-cream cafe that Fortescue's turned out to be. A family with a bushy haired girl, a group of older teenagers that seemed to be by themselves, couples clearly on dates.

"Hagrid, earlier in Madam Malkin's that boy, Malfoy you called him?"

"Yeah?"

"He said something about me. Hagrid, why am I famous"

Shocked covered the gentle giants face "YER DON' KNOW?" seeing Harry's head shake head he continued "I'll tell yer later-after we're done shoppin'".

"Ok" Harry said, disappointed he couldn't know now, but satisfied Hagrid would tell him later.

-oo00OoO00oo-

"Well I say we should head ter Flourish And Blott's fer ye' books now" Hagrid said as they walked up the alley. Harry could only smile at the thought, he would DEFINITELY be walking away with more than just school books.

Arriving at the building Harry turned to Hagrid who asked "Yer ok gettin' all yer books Harry?"

"Yeah but I want to get a few more books than just what I need for school, can you come and help me carry them while I look?" Harry countered. Hagrid fidgeted for a second, unsure what to say.

"Er alright but not too many ok" Hagrid affirmed, following Harry as he stepped into the paper smelling shop. He felt like he had stepped through the rabbit hole, arriving in a wonderland filled with knowledge, stories and adventures. Harry was soon searching the shelves of the non-fiction section looking for guides on different magic.

It wasn't long before a Title caught his eye 'Making A Mind Palace: A Guide To Occlumency' taking the book carefully from the shelf he turned the book over to read the blurb.

Making A Mind Palace is a textbook guide to help the reader learn Occlumency. What Is Occlumency? some people might ask. Occlumency is one of the mental arts which can help defend the users mind against legilmens (users of legilmency (another of themental arts focused on reading another's mind)), help improve memory recollection

and help keep your emotions under control in stressful situations.

Harry couldn't imagine anyone trying to read his mind but passed the book to Hagrid anyway, after all how could it be a bad thing to being able to remember things better.

Ten minutes later Harry looked at the books in Hagrid's arms.

Hogwarts: A History,

Making A Mind Palace: A Guide To Occlumency,

A Hundred Household Spells And Their Uses,

Runes: a written language of magic,

Celestia's Guide To Healing And Healthiness.

Hagrid had debated the last of the five saying that the matron at school was a perfectly capable medi-witch. Harry had then argued it would still be a useful skill later in life or when he wasn't at school in an emergency.

There was something missing, fiction "Hey Hagrid, do you know any good fiction i should maybe get?"

"Fiction?"

"You know stories, myths or legends, fairy tales".

"Yeah, well I used ter like the Tales O' Beedle the Bard, dad read 'em ter me when I was a young feller, otherwise I'm not really the person to ask." Hagrid said, only half surprised when the book joined the growing pile in his arms.

Harry continued adding books (both fiction and nonfiction) for a good fifteen minutes before heading to the counter of the bookstore.

"Hagrid, didn't know you were in the habit of helping Ravenclaws carry books around," the clerk said looking at the big stack of books Hagrid was now carrying "And it doesn't even look like their even his school books".

"Ravenclaw? Kid don' even have 'is wand yet Simon" Hagrid replied, exasperated, placing the pile on the counter.

"A FIRST YEAR, WITH THAT MANY BOOKS! Merlin help poor Flitwick when HE gets sorted." Simon said pointing to Harry, "So that'll be a full set of your first year books as well?"

Harry was caught out at the question, looking half offended half smug at the clerks comment. "Uh yes please, sir".

"Sir, please its Simon, I can tell you'll probably be a regular customer, Mr.?"

"Harry" he responded protectively

Simon's only response as he wrapped the book that had been piled on the counter in paper and put them in a paper bag labelled first years, was to raise his eyebrow knowingly.

"Keep it quiet if yer would but our Mr. Potter here is a metamorph" Hagrid explained proudly.

If looks could kill Hagrid would have dropped to the floor dead in that moment Harry thought, well maybe not dead, but severely injured at least. "My, Mr. potter pleasure to meet you. I'll keep your secret for you for now" Simon said seeing Harry's glare at Hagrid. "That will be thirty-five galleons six sickles and a knut"

Harry quickly paid, dropping the bag of books into the blue pouch around his neck and leading Hagrid from the store.

"Well tha's about it except fer yer wand. So off ter Ollivander's" Hagrid lead the way to an old-looking building with boxes containg fake wands as a display in the windows and faded lettering above the door 'Ollivander's makers of fine wands since 382 B.C'

"Go on in, Ollivander will take care o' yer, I'll stay here still".

Harry took the confirmation and stepped in. A bell sounded overhead, announcing his arrival. Looking around all Harry could see was small wand box stacked upon small wand box to his sides, even framing the door frame behind him; and a counter directly in front of him with a sign saying 'Wands 20 Galleons'.

"Mr. Potter, I wondered how long it would be before I was to see you here" an old man appeared from behind the counter, startling Harry.

"B-But how did you know who I am?" he stuttered, knowing he was still definitely disguised

The old man simply trapped his nose and said "Lets get you a wand sorted out." He gingerly removed the lid to a box sitting next to him and handed it to Harry. "Well give it a wave" he commanded.

Startled from the sudden tone of Ollivander's voice he began to wave the wand but Ollivander snatched the wand from him giving him another. Ollivander watched him for a second with the new wand before gesturing to continue. Harry began to wave this new wand and again Ollivander snatched the wand from his grasp before he could do anything, replacing it yet again.

"I remember every wand ive ever sold Mr. Potter. I can remember when your parents walked in to buy their first wands" he began as the swapping of wand continued "Like it was only yesterday. 10 1/4 inches, Willow and Unicorn hair, Swishy, that was your mothers, Lily Potter. 11 inches, Mahogany and Dragon heartstring, Pliable, your fathers, James Potter" he continued, as Harry held wand after wand, getting frustrated at not being able to hold each wand for more than a second.

"Hmm, I wonder?" he paused from giving Harry another wand, before hurrying into a barely visible back room before hurrying back with another wand box in his hands, carefully removing the lid and handing the wand to Harry as carefully as he had the first.

As soon as Harry took hold of the handle to the wand a wind seemed to whip up in the store from nowhere, breezing at his hair and around his body.

"11 inches, Holly, Phoenix feather, Nice and Supple" Ollivander muttered "curious, very curious".

"Mr. Ollivander?" Harry asked.

"It's curious that this wand should choose you, as it is the wand that chooses the wizard" Ollivander quickly clarified "When its brother, gave you the scar you are so fond of hiding".

The words said were more confirmation his parents didn't die in a car crash that he supposedly received the scar in. He had always known his aunt and uncle lied to him about almost anything to do with before he had come to live with them, here was more proof.

"And who owned that wand sir".

"We do not speak his name, but I can tell you, that you are destined for great things Mr. potter, for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things, TERRIBLE-yes, but great" Ollivander whispered "Now will that be all today Mr. Potter".

Harry didn't know what to say to this reveal of information, but he was curious about one more thing Ollivander could help him with "Uh sir, earlier when I was at flourish and blotts I couldn't find any books on wand creation, or well any information on wands at all. I thought that as a wizards most important tool a wizard possesses one should know about it."

"I see Ravenclaw in your future. Ill add this to your purchase then." He pulled a medium sized tome from under the counter "Also can I interest you in some wand polish" he gestured to the small pile of jars to the left of the counter.

"Uh, sure".

Harry paid twenty five galleons and thanked Ollivander, put the wand and polish in the red pouch at his hip before walking out to Hagrid.

"So that's it for shopping then Hagrid?"

The gentle giant seemed to think for a second before replying "One more stop, follow me." Harry quickly followed Hagrid up the street stopping outside a large shop labelled 'Magical Menagerie'. "Happy Birthday Harry, I wanted ter get yer a present while you were in one of the shops but yer insisted I stay nearby, I wanted ter get yeh an owl, come on in, I suppose yer can pick one yeh like."

Harry stepped in, followed by Hagrid. There was a small explosion of noise, hooting of owls, barking of dogs (mastly small puppies), mewling of cats and kittens, the bubbling of water tanks containing fish, chirping of birds and squeaking of mice as well as other noises he couldn't put his finger on. The most surprising of sounds in the store however, was that of arguing children. Harry looked towards the arguing but could see no children.

He walked towards the voices and found a small section of snakes, he had never seen snakes before. The glass tank that he heard the arguing from seemed to come from contained about five small snakes, four seemed to be grouped up and it sounded as if they were children playing on a school playground while the fifth seemed to be off to the other side of the tank by itself. The most interesting thing about the snakes that were 'playing' was that they were changing colors and shape slightly.

"Hello I'm Harry I didn't know snakes could talk" he said to the one off by itself.

The small snake looked up at him, its tongue flicked out at him "A speaker?" if a snake could look unsure of itself it was the one looking at Harry now.

"What does that mean" Harry replied.

"You are a speaker, I thought there were no speakers left" the snake said excitedly in its childish voice.

Suddenly Harry felt Hagrid's hand on his shoulder spin him around "Harry yer a Parselmouth too? Please don't tell ANYONE about tha' ok, people don' look to kind on people who are Parselmouths."

"Whats a Parselmouth?" Harry asked.

"It's a type o' wizard tha' can talk ter snakes Harry, their really rare. Dangit kid yeh must be a miracle, a metamorph and a parselmouth" Hagrid said.

"Do you mind if I get myself one Hagrid, i'll take car of it and an owl if you still want to get me one, I promise I can do it, I could use a friend at home" Harry begged, hoping the Viking-like man would say yes.

"Are yer sure yeh can take care o' both of 'em".

"Yup I promise".

Hagrid's eyes softened, "Alright then i'll make sure yeh can have 'em both at Hogwarts when yeh get there too, but lets pich an owl first".

Harry's arms flung around the giants waist and then Hagrid led him over to the cages where the owls were. Almost instantly Hagrid pointed out a beautiful white snowy owl "Look at her she's beautiful."

Harry couldn't agree more and it was only a few seconds later when Hagrid was off to the counter to buy her. Meanwhile Harry made his way back to the snake tanks to see the snake he had been talking to.

"Sorry about that, my friend needed brought me here to buy an owl. My name is Harry, what's yours?"

The snake looked back up at him almost longingly "We have no names, we were hatched here recently without our mother. We wait for an owner to name us."

"How would you like to come home with me then".

"A speaker wants me!" the snake almost gasped "I would be honored to be owned by you Harry".

"Take care of the child speaker, she was my favorite of the new borns" came a deep voice behind Harry as he whirled around to see a much larger angry looking snake.

"I will, I promise," Harry squeaked shying away from the older snake and turning back around, "I'll buy you and when I get home we can pick a name for you together ok?"

The young snake nodded and Harry walked up to the counter as Hagrid was finishing up purchasing the snowy owl.

"Ah boy I see you like the metamorphic snakes. Rare breed those" The man behind the counter said as Harry aproached.

"I would like to buy that one." Harry replied eagerly pointing to the snake he had been talking to moments before.

"They are pretty expensive, are you sure you'll be able to afford one" the man countered. Hagrid's snort caused the man to look up almost shocked.

"Trust me if he want'd ter he could buy yer bloody store out from under yer Martin."

Martins face went bright red "Oh, well in that case would you like to buy a bag of feed, you'll need to feed it bugs for probably another six months to a year before it grows before it can hunt mice on its own. Or before it will be large enough to eat mice for that matter."

"Yes please sir" Harry replied smugly not sure if what Hagrid said was true or not.

Martin ran behind the counter and brought out a medium sized glass carry box and lead Harry over to the tank containing the 'metamorph snakes' as Martin had called them. Martin removed the lid to the tank and looked at Harry questioningly who stuck his hand into the tank to pull out the snake he had been talking to much to Martins shock.

As soon as Harry's hand got close the snake leaped at his hand and slithered up his arm in a matter of half a second and rested wrapped around the back of his neck, and the snake rubbed its face against Harry's cheek. Harry felt the small weight around his shoulders was comfortable.

"I think it likes yer Harry" Hagrid chuckled as Martin looked on with shock.

"She" Harry replied as he took the carry case from Martin and put it in the blue pouch.

"Th-their venomous" Martin stuttered.

"So?" Harry replied.

Hagrid began chuckling "True if she don' bite yer it don't matter does it?"

Martin kept stuttering for a few seconds before he led them back to the counter. Throwing a bag of what seemed to be dead bugs and then a pack of needles. "If she ever bites you inject yourself with this as quickly as you can and make your way to the closest healer, got it, I won't be responsible if you die because you weren't prepared."

"Ok, I understand, thank you sir" Harry said respectfully.

"Pfft, as if I'd bite a speaker that would save me from this dump." The snake said near his ear causing Harry's grin to widen as he tried not to laugh.

"526 galleons please" Martin said still shocked at Harry's disregard to his warning.

"Sure do you take Gringotts bank card."

"WHAT, THA'S WAY OVERPRICED" Hagrid yelled.

"Hagrid, these snakes are very rare they are almost an endangered species" Martin defended.

"Hagrid its alright" Harry helped taking out his card and swiping it over the reader Martin supplied before Hagrid could stop him, hoping Hagrid wouldn't be too mad and Then putting the needles in his red pouch and the food in the blue one.

"And lastly sign your details here please and i'll send it off to the ministry" Martin said.

"Whats that for?" Harry asked.

"Anyone who owns dangerous pets has to register them with the ministry, they'll send out a liscence in the next few days. Magical creatures are regulated as pets but its not really that big a deal." Harry did as he was bid quickly Signing with the blood quill and turning to Hagrid before Martin could see his name.

Hagrid stormed out the door, with Harry following as they walked back down the alley to the leaky cauldron. Hagrid got the same private room that they had used earlier for lunch and Hagrid ordered a bowl of chips for them to snack on while they talked.

"Im sorry Hagrid." Harry said after they had sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Wha', no It's not you. Martin shouldn't have asked such a high price is all," Hagrid said visibly calming down, "I don't want yeh getting ripped off's all. Anyway yer wanted me to tell yeh about your parents?"

-oo00OoO00oo-

Harry looked back over the past 15 minutes. Hagrid had told him about a wizarding war that had lasted years, fought between the ministry and a group known as the 'Death Eaters' who followed a mysterious dark lord. This dark lord despised 'Muggles' (people who weren't magical) and anyone who did not have magical ancestry. His parents had belonged to a group of resistance fighters separate from the ministry (who had been having trouble dealing with the death eaters due to disorganization and the fact they were heavily infiltrated by said death eaters) which they had joined as soon as they had left school.

His parents had gone into hiding just before he had been born because the resistance fighters had come across information that the dark lord (who was admittedly a very powerful wizard) was targeting two families, one of which was his parents. They had been fine for over a year before the dark lord had found them. His parents had died heroes trying to protect him but had ultimately failed. The dark lord then had tried to kill Harry but the spell had reflected and killed him.

Harry had then asked for the 'dark lord's' name and Hagrid had stuttered some time before admitting the name was Voldemort.

Sad as Harry was he felt an overwhelming sense of pride, something he usually felt very little of, His parents were heroes he felt special for the first time in his life getting up and hugging Hagrid, he broke down crying.


	3. Hogwarts

**(8th august 1991)**

For the past week Harry had began to read the books he had bought from Diagon alley. He had hung his locket just inside the door to his cupboard as soon as he had been dropped home by Hagrid and immediately moved what little he owned into the Master bedroom.

The owl, Harry had come to name Hedwig, after a famous owl supposedly owned by Merlin hundreds of years ago which he had found out only two days ago reading A History Of Magic. His other pet was being much more difficult to name.

"What about Isabelle, Bella for short"

"Hmm, no I don't like it" the childish snake replied.

It had been like this every time he had suggested any names, "well how about making a suggestion yourself?"

"What about Ambrosia?" she retorted.

"Hey that's not bad, I'll probably just call you Sia though."

"Yesss, that's good" Ambrosia said as she began rubbing her face against Harry's face in affection.

Awesome that was one thing off his mind. For the past week Harry had been holed up in his locket, he hadn't had to do any chores except when he had come out to cook meals (because the Dursleys couldn't find him when they tried to get him to do anything) and he hadn't had to run from Dudley and his gang. That had felt weird though, Harry was used to running, and the fact that he hadn't in a week made him feel bad. He decided that he would go running every morning before any of the Dursleys woke up so he didn't have to worry about getting beaten up by Dudley and his gang.

Harry had read the book on Occlumency cover to cover twice and had began to sort out his mind palace, he modeled it roughly after his locket, which only opened to him. He could see how much easier it had become to remember things, and had began to meditate like the book instructed every night for at least an hour, if he could help it, before he slept.

Harry was broken out of his musings when he looked at the clock and saw what time it was, 6:30. He bolted out of his bedroom towards the 'front door' of the locket, into his cupboard and out into the hallway into the kitchen.

Quickly he began collecting the ingredients he needed for a lasagne and began cooking as quickly as he could. Soon the béchamel, meat and pasta sheets were layered and in the oven alongside a tray of chips.

" **BOY, WHERE'S DINNER, IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE TABLE NOW!** "

"I-I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, I-I lost track of time, it should only be another 15 Minutes."

Vernon Dursley had appeared behind Harry as he watched the oven. He was wrenched around by his left shoulder to face the purple faced walrus of a man who looked like multiple blood vessels in his forehead were about to pop.

"THE WHOLE WEEK YOU'VE AVOIDED YOUR CHORES AND NOW DINNERS LATE!" Spittle flew onto Harry's face as he tried not to wince followed a second later by him gasping to breathe as he collapsed to the floor holding his gut. "HERES A LIST OF YOUR CHORES EVERY DAY, GET THEM DONE OR SO HELP ME, YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!" A crumpled up piece of paper landing on his hands.

Not long after Harry served the Dursleys, plates full of lasagne and chips that had been carefully salted over. He watched as Vernon's venomous expression softened after the first bite, quickly he ate a small portion of what hadn't been served before hurrying off to his locket.

-oo00OoO00oo-

( **1st September 1991** )

Harry had been sitting at platform 9 and 3/4 for the better part of forty five minutes as he watched people arrive, he told the Dursleys he needed to be at the station at ten so that he would get there on time, he knew they would make him late if they could just to spite him, even though the train didn't leave till eleven.

The last three weeks had passed without issue with the Dursleys. He had gone for a run every morning at six o'clock before returning at seven to prepare breakfast, he then spent the next two to three hours, depending on the day, doing his chores before returning to his locket to read ahead in his subjects.

He had left everything unpacked in his locket, including Hedwig and Ambrosia, except for his robes which he would have to change into on the train, which he had in his red pouch at his hip with his wand.

It had been fun watching so many strange people arrive through the barrier who clearly knew about and how to use magic. He had seen things from Mothers waving their wands over their children to straighten robes being worn, to wands being waved over trunks to levitate them, and a fair bit in-between.

Older children who obviously knew each other gathered in various groups on the platform before wandering into the train to find a compartment to share.

Harry wondered if he would be able to make any friends at school. No he didn't think it would be hard, he was famous after all. He wondered if he would be able to make friends who wanted to be friends with him for him, instead of what he had supposedly done as a baby, before he could even know what he was doing.

As time ticked on he made a decision, Harry did NOT want to spend the whole eight hour trip alone so he shakily stood up and set off to find someone to talk to, moving his scar to his waist and changing his hair to a mousy brown so nobody would be able to guess who he was.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Hermione Granger was having the strangest day of her life. She was leaving her parents behind, to be dropped off at the train station, to go to a school of magic that she would stay at for the majority of the next seven years of her life. To describe that sentence was an emotional rollercoaster for the young 'witch'. She loved her parents dearly, but she had always known she was different from all the other children she had ever met. Her being magical had made sense ever since Professor McGonagall had arrived with her letter for Hogwarts, but she had never been there before and she was already going to live their for most of SEVEN YEARS!

Hermione's mum had made the best eggs benedict she ever had, followed up with crepes with blueberries and choc-mint ice cream. Hermione couldn't remember EVER having such an extravagant breakfast in her whole life. As she finished up she hugged her mum, followed by her dad, and ran upstairs to brush her teeth.

She came out of the bathroom and went into her room to triple check she had packed everything she would need.

"Are you ready dear, we have to go soon or you'll be late" her father called up the stairs.

"Yeah just have to bring my trunk down."

Moments later her dad was carrying her trunk down the stairs with her following behind. Her mum grabbed the keys and they were in the car on the way to Kings Cross. It was a fairly quiet car ride, she didn't know what to say and neither did her parents, everything that could be said, had been said multiple times since she had found out she was magical.

The barrier was just ahead, Hermione turned around to her parents to be enveloped in her mothers arms almost instantly, her father making it a group cuddle as he slipped his arms over her mums. "Goodbye mum, dad, I'll be sure to write every week ok, I promise."

"Hey its alright dear, well find a way to write back ok, we promise, we'll see you at Christmas as well, that's not to far away," cooed her mum.

"Yeah" her father grumbled "I'll miss you though, we both will."

At that the group hug dispersed, and Hermione turned and lugged her heavy trunk through the barrier onto platform 9 and 3/4 with a tear in her eye and hope in her heart.

Hermione was quick to spot a group of girls that looked like her age so she lugged her trunk towards them. "Hi, my names Hermione Granger, are you all first years too. I've been looking forward to going ever since I heard about it last year."

A black haired girl looked at her and coughed a word Hermione didn't quite catch and the whole group save a tallish blond broke down into giggles and they all walked away from her.

Was she still different from the children going to Hogwarts. Was Hogwarts just like her non-magical school, full of bullies and idiots. She didn't care anymore, tears began to form in her eyes as she turned toward the train, lugging her heavy trunk towards the nearest carriage

"Um, could I help you with that" she looked up to see a boy with bright green eyes, mousy brown hair and a wide, caring smile.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Harry saw a group of girls his own age, but as he made his way to approach them another girl bet him to it. He watched as she tried to introduce herself eagerly, and then he saw the group laugh at her and walk away. He had been bullied his whole life and he hated it. He walked up behind the girl as she turned towards him, lugging her trunk after her.

"Um, could I help you with that"

She looked up at him startled, he could see tears forming in her eyes. He knew that feeling all to well thanks to Dudley and his gang, he wasn't about to let this girl go through that when he could stop it.

"I-I'm new to Hogwarts this year and I don't know anyone so I was wondering if maybe we could, um, be friends and maybe get a compartment together." He knew he must sound like an idiot but he didn't care. "My name's Harry."

"H-Hermione, nice to meet you" she smiled up at him.

"Here" he took her trunk by the handle and slung it over his shoulder as if it was filled with feathers.

"Oh no I couldn't, what about your own?" Her mouth finally caught up to her brain.

"Magic" Harry smirked back taking her by the hand and leading her into the nearest carriage, walking halfway up it's length before finding an empty compartment. Harry lifted her trunk onto the overhead storage and turned to look at Hermione. She had a lost look in her eyes that made him flinch, "you didn't need anything in it did you?"

Her eyes lit up and before he could react her head became a speeding brown bullet that dug itself into his chest, her arms slithered around his back in a hug, at this he stiffened.

"Thank you" she looked up into his eyes "Are you ok"

Harry relaxed, a little bit "Y-Yeah its just, I don't think anyone's ever hugged me before." This wasn't like Harry, he kept things to himself. But then again, he was on a train, about to leave kings cross station, that would take him to a magical school, a castle in the Scottish highlands, where he was famous for something he couldn't even remember doing. Maybe opening up to someone who would likely become his best friend for the next seven years wasn't a bad thing

Hermione let go, grabbing him by the arms and again looking up into his eyes "Well Harry, as long as we're friends, I promise to try and make up for that" and upon finishing her sentence proceeded to slam herself back into his chest. This time his arms snaked around her shoulders as well for a second before the train jolted to a start, causing the duo to stumble. Hermione began to fall but Harry quickly grabbed her by the waist, holding her up while regaining his own balance.

Hermione sat down on one side of the compartment and he took the other. Looking over he could see her cheeks glowing red.

"Well, now that we're friends, we should get to know each other" Hermione said a few minutes later.

"Yeah I guess, um ask me anything you want" Harry offered.

"Hmm, nah, my parents told me about this game, you tell the other person something about yourself and you have to guess if their telling the truth or a lie, wanna play."

It sounded simple enough, and it could be fun, "Sure."

"I suggested it so I'll start. Hmm lets see. Ooh I know, my full name is Hermione Jane Granger."

"I'm going to say truth," at her nod he continued, "Well nice to meet you Miss Granger, My name is Harry Houdini." He closed his eyes and smirked

"LIE, that is such A LIE."

Before he could respond a red haired boy burst into the compartment "Have either of you seen Harry Potter, he's supposed to be going to Hogwarts this year."

Harry stiffened "No, sorry no Harry Potter Here, my names James and this is."

"Hermione" she cut in, throwing a speculative glance at him.

"I know he's not here, he has a lightning bolt shaped scar on his head don't he. Ron by the way, Ron Weasley" Ron replied before vanishing back from where he came.

Before she could say anything Harry cut in "Yeah that's me, Harry James Potter."

She gasped and looked at him with shock for a second, before relaxing, "Well nice to meet you Mr. Potter, I hope we can be really good friends." she smiled at him curiously "Hmm, my favorite place in the entire world is my bedroom because It's the best place in the world I can relax."

It made sense and the bedroom in his locket was probably his favorite place in the world now. "True."

Hermione giggled back at him "Nope, well not really, my favorite place in the world is the library, but my bedroom is a close second."

A knock at the door interrupted the pair. Harry opened the door.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" The trolley witch said.

Hermione was about to say no thank you when she saw Harry's face light up which melted her heart.

"Sorry we're first generation magicals, so we don't know what to get, what's popular?"

Soon the seat next to Hermione was covered in treats: chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, fizzing whizbees and sugarquills.

"Ok" now to give her what she had been wondering about before the trolley witch had interrupted. "I'm a metamorphmagus, a wizard with an extremely rare ability to change my appearance whenever I want to."

At this she screwed up her face. Almost a full minute she finally replied, still unsure of her answer "lie?"

Harry faced her and looked into her eyes. Slowly he returned to his usual look, scar and all, "true, this is what I usually look like."

"Wow, do you know much about metamorphmagi? How did you become one?" the excited girl asked, completely forgetting about their game.

Before Harry could answer, The boy from Madam Malkins' slid the door open and strutted in like he owned the world. "So it's true then, Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts. This is Crab, and Goyle" he indicated behind him to either side "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Draco stepped in front of Hermione, offering Harry his hand to be shaken.

"I'm sorry but your being rude to my friend." Harry replied with venom in his voice at the unwelcome stranger.

"This Mudblood? She's nobody, you don't want to go making friends with the wrong-sort." He looked at Harry, arm still outstretched, a smug smile on his face "I can help you there."

It took Harry a second to break from his shock. Anger welled within him until the next thing he knew the unthinkable was happening. Harry didn't stand up to bullies, he ran away, his cousin and his group of friends being his main tormentors being one of the largest benefactors to that. This was different though, this boy couldn't tell his aunt and uncle and have him punished without the food he loved to make for days on end, or even have him beaten and locked in his cupboard (not that he cared much now he had his locket to go to).

That was the thought process that had Harry's hand around the boys throat, against the door to the carriage, which had slammed closed on the two bookends of it's own accord. Harry wanted to teach this bully a lesson early, He wouldn't stand for bullying, not of him, not of his friends and not of anyone as long as he was around.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Hermione was on the verge of tears, someone had walked in and introduced themselves to her new friend and had completely ignored her. She was so happy as Harry had said Draco was being rude to her, she hoped maybe he had simply overlooked her by accident.

Her hopes had crashed and burned as soon as the new boy opened his mouth. She was nobody, that's what he said. He didn't even know her. Her new friend was sure to leave with this more confident boy, after all boys were never friends with girls so why would it be any different in the magical world she found herself now apart from.

Hermione was almost ready to run away crying as soon as the blonde boy finished talking. Before she could move the door slammed shut in front of the two boys 'Draco' had bought with him and Harry seemed to move faster than she could see. He had the boy pinned against the door as his hair seemed to recede as his skin took on a red hue and two lumps seemed to grow on his forehead.

" **NEVER INSULT MY FRIENDS AGAIN OR ELSE!** " Harry growled as he pulled Draco from the door that slid open faster than she thought possible and pushed him out as the door slammed shut again and the blind slid over the window.

Hermione watched as he seemed to stand facing for almost a full minute, before his features reverted to what he had been using when she first met him on the station, and he turned around sitting back on the seat across from her, hugging his legs to his chest with his back against the wall of the train carriage.

She didn't know what to do, her emotions were like a rollercoaster looking at him, he seemed like such a nice boy, he had helped her out of the funk she was getting herself into on the station and had been really funny as they had talked. He had then proceeded to defend her when some random bully had called her a 'nobody' and a 'mudblood' whatever that meant. But he had almost scared her the way he had done it, taking the image of the devil as he pinned the boy to the wall and yelled at him.

"I'm sorry" Harry mumbled into his knees "if you don't want to be friends anymore that's ok."

"NO, how could you even think that" Hermione scrambled to hug him again, an awkward action to take considering his posture.

-oo00OoO00oo-

The two continued talking for a few hours without interruption.

"Gryffindor, why would you want to go there?"

"Well, it's where Albus Dumbledore went, the Headmaster, he is a great wizard. He defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald when he was younger." Hermione replied.

"So? Why would he have anything to do with where you are sorted at Hogwarts. I'm going to go to Ravenclaw, the house of the smart, I think you would be good there to."

"But, well, I suppose?"

"What subject are you looking forward to most?"

"Hmm, well Charms I guess, it seems like it's the most varied branch of magic. What about you Harry?"

"well, Defense I guess. Not sure there's really a reason though."

"Have you read much of any of our school books yet?" asked Hermione.

"No I've been reading other books I got at Diagon alley. What about you, have you read anything interesting?"

"No, I've been focusing on school stuff at the moment, obviously you have, so what have you found interesting."

"well, it's more the exercises I've been doing from this book." Harry said, excitement glimmering in his eyes as he pulled out his Occlumency book.

Hermione's eyes widened at this, "wait but, we're not supposed to practice magic unless we're at school."

"I'm not sure if it even is magic, you don't use a wand or anything. It's like doing mental exercises that help with memory recollection, and also helps you organize your mind." Harry said leaving out the whole part of defending it, as he had no idea if there would really be a need to, "Here let me show you."

Hermione wasn't sure what to do but she trusted him "uh, well I guess it couldn't hurt then. Ok."

"Get comfortable then" Harry smiled at her.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Hermione's shriek alerted Harry to the fact that something was wrong. "Harry, it's almost dark outside, we must be close to Hogwarts at this point."

Harry looked out the window shocked. "Wow I didn't realize how long we were meditating for," he said nonchalantly.

"Do you want to get changed first or me," she said hurriedly.

"Uh, you can, I'll wait outside," he stood up, stretching. He opened the door to see an older student with a badge with a 'p' symbol on his robes looking frustrated and red in the face with crossed arms and his wand in his right hand. Harry closed the door behind him to give Hermione her privacy while she changed.

"What's your name and house?" The older boy said in a commanding tone.

"James, I haven't been sorted yet but I hope I'll be in Ravenclaw."

"A FIRST YEAR, I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" He half yelled, before calming down slightly. "No first year could cast locking and silencing charms that powerful, so don't even try it, who's in there with you?" he finished, a thought suddenly coming to his head mid sentence.

"It's true, and just a friend I met on the platform, we didn't realize how late it was getting, so she's just getting changed into her robes now."

"Whatever, I expect to see both your wands when she's done." He said grumpily.

"Excuse me, but may I ask why, I've gone along with you, but what gives you the right to question me and ask to see my wand?" Harry asked.

The older boy sighed, "Sorry firsty, I'm a prefect, we are supposed to patrol the train and make sure nobody gets into mischief before we even get to school, so that means we have check in every compartment on our way past. But because nobody could open the door here, we had to rotate people standing here for when you finally came out. I've been standing here for the last hour bored out of my mind."

"Uh, I'm sorry, but that's weird… I had no trouble opening the door." At that moment Hermione opened the door and stepped out wearing her new robes.

"So James here say's you're both firsties yeah?" He asked before Harry could say anything.

"Yes" she said, eyeing the older boy.

"May I please inspect your wands."

Hermione didn't want to, but she pulled her wand out of the pocket she had placed it in a few seconds ago, while Harry pulled his out from the pouch in his pocket.

"Both are pristine… no spells cast from either of them," he said after a second with each one.

They quickly filled Hermione in on what had happened. Once they had finished Hermione suddenly clapped her hand to her mouth.

"I think I might know what happened, remember when that blonde kid came in, you didn't touch the door, it opened and closed on it's own."

The prefects ears perked up at this, "sorry miss, could you tell me what happened?"

"Well, not long after we left a blonde boy came in and started to insult me, and James," she said the name as if it was alien to her, "got mad, yelled at him, and pushed him out of the compartment, the door opened on it's own and closed behind him." She finished sending a sorry look at Harry.

"I won't punish you, you haven't even been sorted so it would be pointless to try." He sighed "try to control your anger though kid, promise?, I'm a claw so if you want to be one of us we don't need someone who's going to lose us points every time we have potions ok?"

"Um, ok?" Harry replied.

"You'll understand later, I'm sure. Anyway names Rob, I'll look out for you James," he began to walk off, "oh and hurry up and get changed, we're 15 minutes away from Hogsmead station."

-oo00OoO00oo-

Harry and Hermione stepped out of the train carriage to a semi-busy Hogsmead station. The loud speaker had reminded all the older students to wait until the first years had all left, before each year level would depart one at a time for the carriages.

"Firs' year this way, this way." Came Hagrid's booming voice.

They walked towards the front of the train where Hagrid had gathered all the first years. The trolley witch poked her head out of the carriage closest to the front of the train. "Have you got them all Hagrid?"

"Dunno I'll count 'em" he said raising his arm and pointing as he counted "I don' see… oh-err nah tha's all 37 of 'em, follow me firs' years."

Hagrid lead the group of first years down a winding path to the back of a boathouse below the station and lead them all inside, "Right e'ryone get in the boats an' we'll be off. An' no more than four a boat."

Harry and Hermione shared a boat with another boy who looked almost afraid of his shadow. Once Hagrid had made sure everyone was in a boat, he got into his own that was three times bigger than any of the others. Once Hagrid was sat, the boats took off.

Harry had never seen anything as beautiful, Hermione sighed next to him at the same sight next to him. The moon had barely risen higher than the beautiful castle on the highlands above them, casting a long reflection along the water.

It wasn't long before they reached the other side and were being led up another set of stairs and into the entrance hall where Professor McGonagall was waiting for them. "Right firs' years, Professor McGonagall will take ye' all from here." Hagrid said walking back to the doorway.

Before Hagrid could leave Harry quickly moved to intercept him, "Thanks Hagrid, nice to see you."

Hagrid looked confused for a second before Harry shifted his eye color to blue and back "it's ok H-" he was cut off by Harry raising a finger too his lips before moving back to the group. Hermione looked at him questioningly, "later" he smiled.

McGonagall led them to a large set of double doors before she turned to face them all. "Welcome to Hogwarts, in a few moments we will pass through these doors and you will join your classmates, but before you join them you will be sorted into your houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. One of these noble houses will act as your family here at school, any achievements may earn you points, while any rule breaking will lose them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points, will win the house cup." The Scots woman now finished her obviously well rehearsed speech. "I will be back momentarily."

Almost as soon as she had left, Malfoy spoke up "Seems like Harry Potter was too chicken to get off the train," the two book ends behind him began to laugh.

Everyone began to clamber toward the blonde but Ron Weasley was the first to ask what was on every one's mind "What d' you mean, Potter wasn't even on the train?"

"Well he fooled you then Weasley, I actually met him" the blonde replied, obviously proud of himself "Too bad he's so much of a coward he can't even face school."

Harry could feel Hermione begin to move toward Malfoy, but quickly stopped her. He could see the frustration written all aver her face, so he whispered only to her, "He'll just look like an idiot when I get sorted." She seemed to accept it but still looked angry.

At that moment Professor McGonagall came back, silencing everyone at once. The massive double doors to the great hall were flung open and they were led in. The collective group of first years gasped, The high ceiling showed the night sky in exact detail with thousands of candles floating mid-air. Four long tables filled with students stretched down almost the length of the gargantuan hall, up to a few meters before a dais at the back of the hall, upon which a fifth table sat following the width of the hall, which staff obviously sat at.

The group stopped just before the dais, where there was a raggedy old hat sat upon a stool. An old man in the middle of the staff table stood. "For those of you who do not know, I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Before we begin, there are a few notices I would like to announce. First off, our caretaker would like me to remind you all, the Forbidden Forest is of course, forbidden. Secondly, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to those who do not wish to die a most painful death. That is all for now, Professor McGonagall, please begin the sorting." The Headmaster finished.

"Certainly," she replied, "when I call your name, you will come forth and I will place the sorting hat upon your head, and you will be sorted into your houses."

All the students in the hall were deathly silent as the first students name was called, "Hannah Abbott" the sorting hat was placed on her head and it wasn't long before the first new student of the school year was sorted into Hufflepuff, the lining of her robes becoming yellow and black, the colors of her new house, and her house patch appearing on the top left side of her chest while her new housemates cheered.

The sorting continued along this path, until McGonagall called out "Granger, Hermione". Hermione smiled warmly at Harry before walking up and sitting on the stool and McGonagall lowered the hat onto her head. Harry hoped she would be in Ravenclaw, like he hoped to be in. He had barely finished his thought when the sorting hat called "Ravenclaw" aloud to the hall. Harry's heart flooded with relief.

When just over half of the students had been sorted, McGonagall finally called out "Potter, Harry". The hall that had been quiet before had become completely silent. Harry took a step forward, letting his hair change back to it's natural black, the scar returning to his forehead and shrinking an inch to his usual height.

Before he reached the stool, he felt three separate minds touch his own. He couldn't defend against them if they truly wanted to, but it was easy to pinpoint exactly who wanted to see into his mind, The headmaster, and two men sitting at the staff table, one with long, greasy black hair, and the other with a turban wrapped around his own head. Harry decided to ignore it for now, but he was suspiscious, according to his book, Legilimency was usually illegal. He would bring it up with someone after he was sorted.

McGonagall lowered the hat onto his head. "My Mister Potter, quite the intellectual aren't you. I believe you are definitely quite well suited to the house you want to join. My thanks also for talking to Miss Granger, until you spoke with her she really did have her heart set upon Gryffindor, and I don't think she would have done well there." The hat spoke within his mind.

Before Harry could speak, the hat shouted aloud this time "Ravenclaw" and the lining of his robes changed to the blue and bronze, the patch with an eagle appearing on his chest while the Ravenclaws cheered louder than any house had so far. Harry quickly stepped off the dais and went to join Hermione.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Albus Dumbledore was a happy man watching the new first years walk into the hall. He let his passive Legilmency scan the group, feeling the excitement and wonder they felt. There was always a few students from pureblood families that knew Occlumency, tonight there were nine students who his passive Legilimency couldn't read.

As the students stopped in front of the dais, Dumbledore stood up and made his speech, his eyes searching for the boy who lived. Finally Harry Potter was old enough to learn magic. He finished his speech still not seeing Harry, but did not worry as he was sure he would appear once the sorting began.

Half of the students had now been sorted and Dumbledore was beginning to worry, he could see all of the students, but no Harry Potter. He calmed himself, Harry's name would be called out any second now and he would appear. It would be ok, there was no need to worry himself.

As Harry's name was called out, a brown haired boy stepped forward and begin to change. First his hair blackened, then he shrunk slightly, and lastly a scar seemed to fade into existence on the boys forehead. This was Harry Potter, his malleable little Gryffindor. Dumbledore tried to scan him with his Legilimency and realized he couldn't see the boy's surface thoughts.

Making a snap decision he focused his Legilimency a little harder, he could now see the boy's mind, tissue thin defenses guarded his mind and the way Harry locked eyes with him, he knew the boy could tell it was his probe. Dumbledore knew he would have to do something Big to rectify things with Harry already, before he had even talked with him.

Then the sorting hat shouted "Ravenclaw" and Dumbledore could only feel that things had gotten even worse.

-oo00OoO00oo-

Tonks was having a terrible day. First, this morning she had been woken up early, never something good in Nymphadora land. Then she had to go through the trauma of realizing that today was the day she left home for the majority of the next seven years. She would only see her mum and dad on the holidays.

She had taken forever to say goodbye at the station, almost missing the train (she could have only wished she did). Then fifteen minutes into the trip her cousin came into the compartment, she had managed to find empty. Draco had been in a foul mood, grumbling about some demon before he had turned his attention to her.

"It's not your fault your mother married a mudblood, Nymphadora." He had said.

"when I can take over as the head of the Black family I'll welcome you back to the family" he had said.

"If you serve me."

Tonks saw red, Malfoy's head snapped as her hand hit his cheek. Tonks stormed out of the compartment and found another filled with a few other first years. It wasn't that Susan Bones was boring, or that they didn't get along, but Tonks found herself bored the entire trip to Hogwarts.

The trip across the lake had made her feel a little bit better, but then Draco had to speak up when Professor McGonagall left for less than a minute.

Walking into the great hall was, just like crossing the lake, somewhat therapeutic. Headmaster Dumbledore made his speech, and the sorting began, not that she paid much attention, just waiting her turn in line. Where would she go, Slytherin, like her mother… Ugh no way, then she would have to deal with Draco on a daily basis, she didn't think she was the right fit for Slytherin anyway. Maybe Huflepuff then, yeah, that sounded good.

Around half of the first years had been sorted, when she heard the hall fall entirely silent as one of the boys stepped towards the stool to be sorted. His brown hair seemingly melting into black and shrinking an inch. She knew what he was, he was like her. When she heard the sorting hat shout "Ravenclaw" and she had made her mind up about where she was going.

"Tonks, Nymphadora" she walked up and sat on the stool as the hat lowered onto her head.

"Miss Nympha-" the hat began inside her head.

"Shut it hat, first off, it's Tonks, nothing else, just Tonks. Secondly I don't care what you say, I'm going to be a claw, like it or not."

"But I don't think-."

"I said shut it hat. I don't care what you think."

"Fine," the hat said grumpy at not even having the chance to speak.

"Ravenclaw!" the sorting hat shouted.

Tonks walked down the isle towards the boy she had seen mere moments ago. He was talking to another first year girl so she concentrated on changing her appearance to that of the same as the girl he was talking to and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned to face her and gasped. "Um Hermione? Do you have a twin sister you forgot to tell me about?"


End file.
